Maggi products ‘meet highest quality standards’

Nestlé has assured consumers in the Middle East that all Maggi products sold are safe and compliant with the highest quality standards.
“Quality and food safety are our top priority and we perform regular tests on our raw material and finished products to ensure food safety and full compliance,” Nestle said in a statement.
Nestle’s clarification has come in the wake of authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh informing the company that they have found elevated levels of lead in a sample of Maggi Masala noodles and also monosodium glutamate (MSG) in the products which are labelled ‘no added MSG’.
“The sample tested in Uttar Pradesh came from a batch that had an expiry date of November 2014 and is therefore no longer in the market,” according to information posted on http://www.nestle.com/aboutus/ask-nestle/answers/maggi-noodles-india.
“We have tested around 1,000 batches of Maggi noodles in our own laboratories and also asked an independent lab to test an additional 600 product batches. Almost 125mn packets were tested in total.
The test results confirm that Maggi noodles are safe, with lead levels well within the food safety limits specified by the Indian authorities.”
About the presence of lead in Maggi Noodles, Nestle has maintained that “trace amounts of lead are present in the atmosphere and in the soil around the world due to the use of fertilisers and pest control.
“We regularly monitor all our raw materials for lead, including testing by accredited laboratories. These tests have consistently shown lead in Maggi noodles to be within safe limits.
“We are constantly striving to improve the quality of agricultural materials across the food chain, working with farmers, suppliers, authorities and the rest of the food industry to ensure food safety.”
Nestle also clarified that it “does not add the flavour enhancer MSG (E621) to Maggi noodles in India. However, the product contains glutamate from hydrolysed groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour. Glutamate produces a positive result in a test for MSG.”